With Love
by IrisPhantom
Summary: It was Valentines day...Vlad Masters was once again, alone. Forced to play chess with his cat, Maddie, as his mind wandered. Then came a knock at the door... I do not own Danny Phantom, no matter how much I want to... Half credit to CrackPairingAddict.
1. Unbelievable

Vlad Masters was sprawled out across an expensive-looking loveseat, looking up at the ceiling with hollow eyes. For the first time this year, he wasn't plotting about destroying Danny, or killing Jack, or even stealing Maddie. No, not on this hopeless night. Tonight, he was letting himself drown in his sorrow.

For tonight was the night before Valentine's Day.

In front of him, on a small, oak table, a chessboard sat. There was no one across from him, because he was his own opponent. Usually, chess cheered him up, but not on this lonely night. It only made matters worse.

"Check," he warned himself, moving one of the Black Knights in position to take the White King.

There was a crack of thunder that sounded throughout the sky, sending chills down his cat's spine. She wandered over to her master, sitting across from him and knocking down the king of the opposite side of himself. Letting him win, again. She let out a meow, licking his hand as she did so. She was worried for him, that much was obvious…

The billionaire stroked her head, feigning a small smile. It was something that he did all the time, but it seemed harder to do this time.

"M-M...Maddie," he stammered, struggling with the feline's name. At times, he wished that he hadn't named her after his beloved never-to-be. Scooping her into his lap, he traced his fingers lightly across her back, whispering sweet nothings in an effort to calm her down.

The harsh weather carried on outside, the storm clouds hurling dark droplets of rain at the mansion. Thunder cast the illusion that the whole castle would fall, and the lightning didn't help.

Maddie smiled and nuzzled against him, licking his hand once. Then, there was a knock at the door that made her jump, then, naturally, hisses at the wooden thing attached to the wall.

She hopped off of Vlad's lap and ran to the window, looking out of it. When she saw who was there, Maddie meowed loudly...angrily, throwing a few hisses out.

Vlad was confused at his cat's response. It couldn't be the mail man, the weather was too harsh. Perhaps it was his manager...?

Sighing, he stood from the loveseat and walked to the door, pulling it open - but only enough to see who was there.

There, standing on the porch, drenched and terrified, was Maddie. His beloved Maddie, staring at him with those innocent...indigo eyes that pleaded for him to let her in. She was hugging herself and each time thunder cracked, she jumped as though someone had hit her. Maddie seemed to be shivering.

Maddie, the cat, didn't care how pitiful she looked, the cat kept hissing angrily. Vlad was hers, not that...that...HUMAN!

Vlad was stunned - why was Maddie all the way over in Wisconsin? In the rain? Alone?

He took a moment to regain his lost bearings, before he opened the door a little wider, so they were face to face. The billionaire wasn't sure if he could trust his own voice, but he had to try.

"M....Maddie?" he asked softly, his voice cracking despite his lowered tone.

The woman of his dreams, standing before him, soaked with rain on his doorstep...on the night of Valentine's Eve. It had to be a trick of some kind....perhaps it wasn't even Maddie - maybe he was hallucinating.

"Vlad!" Maddie threw her arms around Vlad, hugging him tightly.

She was crying, shaking, and hugging...what the hell was going on?

Vlad took a sharp intake of breath, even more startled now that there was physical contact involved.

Gulping, so as to not choke on his own nervousness and bewilderment, he softly asked, "Whatever are you doing here...?"

It took everything he had not to stroke her hair, or caress her lovingly in his arms, or start to tango, or close the distance between their lips, or - or any of that jazz.

But he managed.

Maddie pulled back to look at him, "Your the only one I remember," she choked out through her sobs. "Every time I try to think of something, I draw a blank and then get a headache...I just can't..." she stopped there, unable to continue because of a new round of tears.

Vlad blinked, trying to process what he had just heard.

_I'm the only one she can remember? Why can't she remember anyone else?_

"Would you, uh....like to sit down?" he asked, gesturing to the loveseat, whilst finally shushing the snarling cat. "I could get you some Hot Chocolate and we could discuss this further....."

He sounded like such a businessman, but he didn't feel anywhere close to that right now. His thoughts were a tangled mess of confusion; knots that wouldn't be untied until he knew what in God's name was going on. Maddie didn't remember anything except _him_? What made her forget? ....And why was it _him_, of all, people, that she _could_ remember?

"No, I want to stay with you, don't leave me alone...please..." she hung onto him, her arms wrapped around his stomach, her face pressed against his chest as tears freely fell.

Maddie snarled angrily the gesture, glaring chess pieces at the two. She was not a happy kitty.

Vlad stiffened, staring at the unclosed door with wide eyes.

_She__ wanted to stay with __him__?_ Was he getting his holidays confused; mixing up Valentine's with Opposite Day?

Suddenly, as if on cue, his alarm (set to go off at ten o' clock to remind him not to stay up too late) went off. He couldn't stand the buzzer setting, so he had it on radio. Chet Baker's song "Time after Time" wafted into the room.

_'Time....after time.....I tell myself that I'm...so lucky to be loving you....._' It sang.

_'So lucky to be.....the one you run to see......'_

He fought the urge to dance to the slow song, thoughtful of his special guest. "I won't." His voice was soft, gentle. "Never again..."

Usually, his cat was the first thing on his mind, but not tonight. Tonight, the Eve of Valentine's, when his treasured gal happened to stumble into his home. She would be the top priority now.

Scratch that. She always was.

Maddie sighed lightly, "Thank you..." she whispered as a smile tugged on her lips.

She looked up into his eyes, "I forgot how gorgeous your eyes were..." she mumbled.

For the first time in twenty years, Vlad felt complete. His joy was so intense that he was on the verge of crying. Intertwining his hand in hers, he murmured, "And _I'm_ reminded of how _beautiful_ yours _are_."

_'I only know....what I know.....The passing years will show....you've kept my love so young, so new...!'_


	2. Dinner?

Maddie smiled wider, the smile reached her eyes and she was lost in his eyes for a few moments. It was so...nice, so calm. It was a wonderful feeling. And she didn't want to lose it, ever again.

Vlad had gotten Maddie settled in as quickly and efficiently as possible. As soon as he had done that, he practically skipped to the kitchen.

Hell, there's no _practically_ about it. He _did_ skip.

Singing a snatch of "Poetry In Motion" aloud to himself, he heated up the stove. A slow smile spread across his thin lips, a smile that told the world that he was finally happy again. Of course, cooking was a pleasurable thing for him, without everything else being perfect, but he had simply lost interest after The Accident. Cooking, to him, was an inspirational thing, and you needed something else fulfilling in your life in order to cook well.

As it turns out, his cooking for the past twenty years had been tasteless, or repugnant.

But that was all changing. He could be himself again. Who he had been, so long ago. It wasn't until he began to fill the pot up with water did he realize exactly how much he had missed this little pastime.

Briefly, he wondered what Maddie would want to eat. Being himself, he knew all of her favorite foods, but which would she be in the mood for now? He pondered this as he stole a glance at her over his shoulder. It was still so unbelievable that he finally had his wish come true. It was still so coincidental that it had happened to close to the fourteenth. There had to be something he was missing -- but he could care less. Maddie was finally here, and she finally loved him. Finally, he was loved.

The other Maddie, the cat, had been completely forgotten. Her affection towards him during the harder days -- gone. She had loved him, but apparently that didn't count. Not anymore…

Maddie, the cat, jumped down from the window-sill, taking one last look at Vlad. With a sigh, somehow, the cat moved on to the other room, Vlad's. Curling up on the bed, do cats cry? Well...Maddie did.

Maddie, the human, sat on Vlad's couch, smiling as she watched Vlad skip away, he was so cute.

She looked at the table, _Chess, of course…_ she thought to herself, her smile staying in place as she took a piece and moved it.

Maddie was...never good at chess, so it was natural that she didn't realize that she had just made Vlad's side pretty much lose...

Vlad wanted to surprise her, so asking what she wanted was completely out of the question. No, he would just have to follow his intuition. And right now, his intuition said to have dinner in his private study.

_Great_, he thought. _I know __where__, but that doesn't help me with the __what_.

An idea hit him, and his grin grew. Of _course._ It was _brilliant_.

He peeked his head out of the room, to gaze at the beautiful woman seated in his living room. With his weight against the door frame, he sighed dreamily. It was all too perfect. Something had to be going on.

Not that he cared.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked her softly, inspecting the move she had made.

_Typical Maddie,_ he thought. _She was never one for chess._

Maddie looked up, jumping slightly at the sudden voice.

"Oh," she stated, and then smiled, "yeah, but...I feel like I made a stupid move."

Sigh, typical typical.

Vlad strode over and inspected the board, as though he hadn't already. He noted to himself the fact that he could move one of the white pawns to capture the piece Maddie had just moved, but took the nearby rook in his hands and set it down within reach of her black knight.

"Well, I don't think that you did," he purred, a small grin appearing on his face. "Oh, and by the way, I'll have dinner ready in about an hour. It'll be served in the den, which is just down the hall."

"Thank you Vlad," Maddie said as she stood. She walked up to him and gave him another hug, "Ill be waiting," she told him before pulling back from the hug and heading down the hall to the den.

_No!_ Vlad thought to himself. _It's not prepared yet...!_

Instead of stopping her, he phased through the walls to get there first. Once he was there, he quickly set everything up, to display the mood that he wanted on this lovely night. As soon as he finished, he headed back to the kitchen to get dinner ready…

Maddie, being completely oblivious of Vlad, walked into the den.

A small gasp left her lips as she walked in, it was like...a night in the stars or something.

The ceiling was _covered_ with glow in the dark stars, and because the room was dimly lit, they shined beautifully.

Her eyes wondered around, the chairs and couch was a deep blue that matched the drapes on the window. There was a chessboard in the middle of the room with silver and blue chess pieces that spelled her name. Maddie smiled and kept looking, it was spectacular.

Next to the chessboard, there was a small table for two, lighted by a single candle in the center. Everything was already set; plates out, utensils in their place. Seated around the table, two armchairs sat for them, and a long-stem rose was lying on one of them. How sweet of him...

Maddie smiled, _such a gentlemen…_ she thought to herself as she sat herself down in one of the chairs. Leaning forward, she breathed in the scent of the rose and her eyes closed.

Suddenly, something flashed into her mind, but only for a minute. She was in a similar room, and there was an orange man seated across from her. He seemed rather fond of her, leaning forward on the table with his head in his hands and his elbows on the table....and then it was gone. It had seemed to last only a few seconds, but Vlad entered the room moments later, carrying a silver platter. The platter had a matching silver dome cover, hiding the food from view.

"I hope you have not grown bored, love," he murmured with a smile, setting the food down. "And I pray that the food is to your liking."

Wrapping his slender fingers around a diamond stub at the tip of the dome, he unveiled an abundance of spaghetti, blanketed with Ragu Toscano, a four-star sauce.


	3. Im losing my mind

Maddie stared up as Vlad set the food down, her eyes were wide.

". . .Who's the man with an orange jumpsuit?" She asked, worried and confused about her little flashback.

Vlad froze, his ice blue eyes darting up from the food to look at her.

"_Man in an orange jumpsuit?_ Where did you see _him?_"

"In just sort of. . .popped up," Maddie was looking at the ground, "kind of like a. . .flashback, but not." Dammit, this was_ more _confusing.

Vlad's lips became taught, and his eyes sparkled with confusion.

"It either_ is _a flashback or it _isn't_. . ." he mumbled. "Could you tell me what you saw? Exactly?"

He lowered himself into the chair opposite her, staring at his porcelain plate blankly. _Oh no, she's remembering. She's remembering. Things are finally on my side, and now she's remembering!_

"Well it was just. . .that guy, the one in the orange jumpsuit, he was. . ." Maddie shook her head, "It's difficult to explain, I can't completely remember it. . .but you seem like you do."

Vlad tensed in his chair, but reached for the spaghetti ladel to hide it.

"He was. . .what? What was he doing?" he asked with a smile, serving himself some spaghetti as he tried to ignore her last statement. _But it seems like you do. _Was it really that obvious?

"He was just. . ._there_, I can't really explain it all that much. But you haven't really answered me, Vlad." Maddie said, folding her arms, watching him with careful eyes.

"Do you know who he is?"

Vlad swallowed his anxiety, sprinkling some salt over his food.

_I could lie,_ he thought_. Lying always works._

But he countered himself with another thought: _Oh? Does it really? Has it been working for the last twenty years?_

It was common for Vlad to get into a conversation with himself, but he usually forgot that other people were around. He voiced his answer to his own question: "To an extent...."

Maddie blinked, not really expecting that answer. "Oh? Really? Then who is he?"

Vlad was surprised to hear Maddie's voice. He jumped, accidentally releasing the salt shaker. It fell to the table with a soft thud, and Vlad bit back a curse as the lid popped off.

_Nice going, Masters. . ._

"His name is Jack Fenton...." _Don't worry, he's nobody important._ "The three of us were all good friends in college." Aching to change the topic before she asked more questions, he said, "Oh, dear, I seem to have forgotten beverages. Would you like something to drink...?"

Maddie stared at him, but she didn't want to ask more, this was too confusing. He was from college, that was what? Twenty years ago? She'd forget about it for now.

"Yes, please, anything alcoholic would be perfect. . ."

"Of course, my dear," he cooed, standing from the table and offering her a small bow. He scooped the spilled salt and broken shaker into his hands, retreating toward the door. "I shan't be long!"

As soon as the doors closed behind him, however, everything changed.

_All of a sudden, Maddie was sitting outside of an average home. In front of her was this orange man from before. Jack. He was running around the yard, laughing with a little girl that looked strangely like herself. Was that a baby boy in his arms...?_

Vlad walked into the yard, holding two goblets of wine. The yard disappeared, replaced by the candlelit study.

"Here you are, love," he said, placing one of the glasses in front of her. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting...?"

"Who's the boy? And the girl with the red hair?" Maddie was staring at Vlad with confused and wide eyes.

At her question, he tensed. His hand fisted around the stem of the glass, nearly breaking it in two.

"What are you talking about?" His voice sounded forced, strained, as he slowly sat in his chair. "Maddie, are you seeing things?"

"These. . .flashes," she said, gesturing to her head, "they keep popping into my mind. . ." Maddie attempted explaining.

"Oh, dear..." Vlad murmured worriedly. "Are you hallucinating...?"

He reached over the table, holding his fingers to her forehead. He frowned. "You're warm. Do you feel feverish? Perhaps you should lay down...."

Maddie nodded, "Yeah, Im probably just seeing things..." she agreed as she stood.

"Where can I lay down?"

Vlad bit back a sigh of relief as he led her to one of his master bedrooms, opening the door for her and bowing slightly in courtesy to her.

"Have a nice night's sleep, Maddie dearest...." he purred, gently taking her hand and pressing his lips to it. "I pray that you will feel better in the morning."

Maddie smiled, "Thank you, Vlad," she said, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Ill make it up to you for letting me stay," she told him before closing the door gently.

As soon as it closed, Vlad allowed himself a moment of childishness; caressing his cheek lovingly. Then, with a dazed smile, he stumbled back into his den.

Maddie laid down on the bed, a blush on her face as she pulled up the covers. Closing her eyes, hoping to fall asleep.

Outside, rain was still beating down on the house. Its gentle lullaby sang softly through the house, bringing to mind another memory.

Except this one wasn't of Jack.

_"Madison Junior High!" Harriet squealed from beside her. "We're finally going there. Oh my God, it's going to be sooo amazing!"_

_Even the pouring rain didn't dampen Harry's spirits. She took Maddie's hands and skipped with her the rest of the way to the school, smiling the entire time._

_As they shuffled into the building, they noticed that the halls were empty. Harriet's eyes shifted to the clock above the door, and she swore aloud._

_"We're late!" she shrieked. "Oh my God, we're late!"_

_"Harry!" Maddie hissed, finally speaking. "Shush!"_

_Harriet fell into silence, hugging her wet arms. "Perhaps we shouldn't have walked...."_

_"Harry, shush! I think I hear something," Maddie whispered._

_In the distance, something clanged._

_"Fine!" a voice exclaimed. "I'm through with you, anyway!_

_Thwam!_

_"Let me out!" a second voice cried._

_Instantly, Maddie took action. She ran toward the noise, skidding around a corner; looking for anybody that might be in trouble._

_She could hear a locker being banged on nearby, but the hallway was deserted, like the rest of them._

_"Help!" somebody squeaked. "Anybody? I'm in here!"_

_Maddie walked over to the locker that the voice came from. She said: "Don't worry, girl! I'll get you out!"_

_"One-four-twenty!" the girl exclaimed. "That's the, er, locker combo."_

_Maddie spun in the numbers, opening the blue door. As soon as she did, the small girl fell on her, sending them both crashing to the floor._

_"Ow...thanks," the girl mumbled, rolling off of her. "That was really starting to hurt my back...."_

_Maddie watched as the girl stretched her neck back, trying to crack it. _

_...Wait. Did this girl have an adam's apple?_

_"What happened?" she asked the awkward-looking female. "Who did this?"_

_"The captain of the varsity tennis squad," replied the strange girl. "He thought that I was gay, so he shoved me into my locker."_

_"Well, you're definitely small enough to fit in one..." Maddie murmured. With a smile, she extended her hand, saying, "I'm Maddie. And you?"_

_The girl took Maddie's hand. "Vlad."_

_Maddie frowned. "Vlad... isn't that a_ boy's _name?"_

_"Yup," answered the girl, forcing a smile. "After all, I_ am _a boy."_

_Maddie stared at Vlad's smooth face, his soft brown eyes, his well-washed navy blue hair, and his small figure which lacked any signs of muscle tone. _

_All that she could say now was a simple, quiet, "Oh."_


End file.
